On Monday afternoon the official Instagram account of the NFL posted the New England Patriots record over their division – the AFC East – rivals since 2001. The very apt caption along with the photo says it all: the Patriots are the “Beasts of the (AFC) East. Yesterday’s game against an incredibly talented and now Rex Ryan led Buffalo Bills team wasn’t an easy one for the Pats, but they showed why they are the current Super Bowl champs. Utilizing multiple offensive weapons and a hard-hitting defense, Tom Brady and the Pats handed the Bills their first loss of the season and bumping the overall record of the Bills and Patriots to 26-3 in New England’s favor.
The New England Patriots opened up the NFL’s regular season in a similar fashion against the Pittsburgh Steelers. They were offensively strong and defensively tough to come up with a win. While they had a long week to prepare for a divisional game against the Buffalo Bills, they used it to their advantage and came prepared for a hostile environment in Western New York and a determined to win Bills team.
The whole week prior to Sunday’s game, a horde of trash talk came out the Bills camp via players and fans. But everything was very cool, calm, and collected along the Patriots front. If anything, New England players are accustomed to what is said against them. Safety Devin McCourty said that “For us it’s nothing new…I don’t care who we play, I’m probably betting that the whole league wants them to beat us, too. So it was nothing new.” And earlier in the week, wide receiver Julian Edelman implied that whatever was coming out from the mouths of another team is no sweat off of the Patriots backs. “You don’t want to concentrate on what another team is saying. We’re not in high school…If you’re taking time out of your day to think about what other teams are saying and what’s going on in the outside world, you’re taking away from preparing…” Thankfully, for Patriots fans, our team goes into every season with this us against the world mentality and still manages to have back-to-back winning seasons.
On Sunday’s game, New England racked up 348 yards of offense and four touchdowns. (That’s not including Tom Brady’s 466 passing yards). The Patriots defense kept the Bills from staying within worrying distance – that is until late in the fourth quarter. Total, the Pats had a combined eight sacks, a forced fumble, and two interceptions. One of them was Logan Ryan’s INT that sealed the game for the Patriots.
New England has always been a powerhouse in an underwhelmed market. For years, the AFC East has been a smooth sailing division. The Patriots biggest rival usually comes from other AFC contenders such as the Steelers, Ravens, and the Colts. But now, the Miami Dolphins and as we saw yesterday, the Bills, have began building teams that are specifically geared to be formidable competition for the Patriots. Buffalo and Miami both defensively are looking sound.
Do I believe the Dolphins, Bills, or Jets have what it takes to take the division this season? No way. Should Patriots fans worry about upcoming division games against Miami and one more against the Bills? Possibly. Week 2 is just about over and only time will tell. For now, no worries though. But in a year or two, not only will teams within the division give the Pats a run for their money, the AFC East will be a contender within their conference and for some teams in the NFC.
Per usual, the Patriots are now preparing for their next game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jags are an unfamiliar foe for New England having only pitted the two teams against each other ten times. The Patriots have come out on top nine out of those ten times, but rest assured, the Super Bowl champs wont underestimate Jacksonville.
To me, Sunday’s game shouldn’t be too much of a problem. But if you know Bill Belichick and his team like I do, you know they are preparing with a no holds barred and anything is possible approach. Even against an unthreatening oponent, they will all Do Their Job.